On the Cusp
by chocolatequeen
Summary: After the Coronation, the barriers the Doctor had put up between himself and Rose crumbled, one by one. They weren't quite there, not yet, but they were on the cusp, walking the line between friends and lovers. Part of As Time Goes By, prequel to "Shall You Be My New Romance?"


Another one for the kiss/hug meme on Tumblr, featuring 8- forehead kiss 4- kiss on the cheek and 47- cuddle hug. This is before "Shall You Be My New Romance?"

The sun might not set on the British Empire, but it did set on Florizel Street. That didn't mean the Coronation celebrations were done, though. When the food was picked over, the neighbours moved the tables out of the way to make room for dancing. The Doctor looked at Rose to see if she wanted to stay, and to his relief, she bit her lip and looked back down the street to where they'd parked the TARDIS.

He held out his hand. "No one will notice if we just slip away into the night," he said quietly.

Rose sighed and laced her fingers through his, then leaned against his arm as they walked away from the crowd. "I had fun," she told him, "but… I'm just ready to be home."

The Doctor's hearts flipped like they always did when Rose referred to the TARDIS as home. They'd had a long talk after their time in the parallel universe about where Rose belonged—well, she'd talked and he'd finally listened. He'd promised she could stay with him for the rest of her life, and that's what she wanted.

She'd glared at him then, and told him that meant he could stop being a twat every time he worried she was planning to ditch him. "Because I'm never going to leave you, Doctor," she promised.

Rose tugged on his hand. "You're thinking too much," she murmured.

"Nah," he told her as they reached the TARDIS. "I'm just ready to be home, too." He let go of her hand and unlocked the door, then followed her inside and flung his coat over a strut. "Let's get out of here, eh?" he suggested. "Just go into the Vortex and drift for a bit."

Rose nodded and leaned against the railing as he moved slowly around the console, turning the dials until he was ready to flip the dematerialisation lever.

Once the sound of the engines filled the room, he looked back up at his best mate. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

She shrugged. "It's… I…" A tear trickled down her cheek. "I hate feeling that helpless."

The Doctor stepped forward and brushed the tear away. Once his fingers touched her face—her beautiful face that had been stolen for a few hours—he couldn't stop.

"It's okay," he whispered as he brushed his fingers along her jaw. "You're back," he promised as he swept them over her nose and across her forehead.

Rose sighed and stepped closer to him, and the Doctor dropped his hands to her hips and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I promise, Rose. It's all over."

She ran her hand down his tie and stared at it, rather than meeting his eyes. When she bit her lip again, the Doctor reached out and gently nudged her chin up so he could see her eyes. "What is it?"

"Can we… do you think tonight… I could really use a cuddle tonight," she said finally.

"So could I," the Doctor agreed. "Go get changed, and I'll meet you in the library in fifteen minutes."

Rose smiled finally, then pushed up on her toes and brushed her lips over the Doctor's cheek before darting away. The Doctor watched her go, feeling a few more of the barriers he'd put up between himself and Rose crumbling around him.

He sighed and followed her down the corridor to their rooms, which were right next to each other. That was yet another clue that he was losing his battle to keep his relationship with his companion on a strictly friendly level. He rarely let companions know where his room was, let alone position them so near to his private living space.

It only took a moment to strip out of his suit and put pyjamas on, then he went to the galley and found the kettle already hot and mugs waiting on the counter. The TARDIS hummed when he silently thanked her, and the Doctor felt a wave of affection for his ship, who took just as good a care of Rose as he did.

 _Better, even_ , he thought darkly as he watched the tea seep out of the teabags in little reddish tendrils. _You didn't let her face get taken, after all._

The TARDIS chided him, as he'd known she would. The Doctor sighed and squeezed the teabags out, then poured milk into Rose's cup and sugar into his before carrying them to the library. Maybe it wasn't his _fault_ that Rose had been in danger today, but he certainly hadn't done anything to keep it from happening. He'd just left her at the Connollys', by herself.

The TARDIS' chastisement was sharper now, and the Doctor remembered just in time that tonight was supposed to be about comforting Rose. He swallowed his guilt and settled into the corner of the couch, letting the heat from the fireplace relax him.

A few minutes later, he heard Rose pad into the room. He looked up at her and patted the cushion next to him, and she smiled back at him and settled down at his side.

"Thanks," she said as he draped a blanket over them and handed her her tea.

"Any time, Rose Tyler."

Rose only hummed, rather noncommittally, and her earlier shyness belatedly registered with the Doctor. He shifted slightly so he could see her face. "I mean it," he told her earnestly. "Any time you feel like you need someone to hold you, just ask."

Her only answer was to sigh and burrow closer to him, but he figured that was probably an agreement, so he didn't push the point.

"I just needed… I feel safe when I'm here, next to you," Rose confessed after a short pause.

The words hit the Doctor hard. "How can you?" he asked, unable to keep the question in.

Rose lifted her head from his chest to look up at him. "Because you never do anything to hurt me. I may be in danger sometimes when I'm _with_ you, but I'm never in danger _from_ you."

"Oh." The Doctor felt his world tilt just slightly; he'd never distinguished between his own actions and what happened around him.

Rose patted his leg. "Yeah. 'Xactly."

The Doctor chuckled when she yawned so big he could hear her jaw crack. Her mug hung precariously from tired fingers, and he took it from her and set it down on the table.

"You should go to bed, Rose," he suggested, just barely remembering to user her name rather than the endearment that was on the tip of his tongue.

Instead, she snuggled closer to him. "Don't wanna move," she mumbled. "You're comfy."

Soft warmth stole over the Doctor when Rose drifted off. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and finally admitted to something he'd known for a long time.

He loved Rose Tyler, and he always would.

The biggest of his barriers disappeared, but the Doctor couldn't bring himself to care. Now that he'd admitted this crucial fact, he could feel how entwined their timelines already were. If he believed in soulmates, he would say they were always fated to be together.

Rose shifted in her sleep, trying to get comfortable, and loath as he was to move, the Doctor knew she needed to be in her own bed. Moving slowly, so as not to wake her, he stood and picked her up.

She hummed softly, then settled her head on his shoulder and went right back to sleep. The Doctor's hearts clenched at the love and trust in that gesture, and he knew it was only a matter of time, now. When the right moment came, they would finally take that step and move their relationship forward.

The TARDIS opened Rose's door for him, and he carried her into her room and laid her down on the bed. She grumbled when he let her go, but relaxed back into sleep when he covered her with the duvet.

It was inevitable, the Doctor mused as he brushed her hair back from her forehead. He didn't believe in fate, but he did believe in her.

"I love you," he whispered as he turned her light off. The air fairly crackled with timelines shifting and realigning as possibilities disappeared and emerged. The Doctor smiled to himself as he stepped out into the corridor and closed her door behind him. He could hardly wait to see what happened next.


End file.
